2 Activities 2E FUN & EASY SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES AG

FUN & EASY SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL ACTIVITIESTry these activities with your 2-month-old—a great way to have funtogether and support your child’s social-emotional development.Sing songs youremember from childhoodto your baby. Hold yourbaby close in your armsor in a baby carrier.Gently dancewith your baby.Hold your baby and putyour face close to hers.Make silly faces. Smile at yourbaby. Stick out your tongue.Yawn. Wait a few seconds andsee if she tries to repeat youractions back to you.Place interesting thingsclose to her bed for herto look at. Hang objectsor toys out of reach.Tape simple pictures frommagazines on the wall.2AGE2 ActivitiesMONTHSWith your baby on herback, take a tissue andwave it above your babyfor her to see. Tissues alsocan fly, float, and tickle partsof your baby’s body. See howyour baby responds. If shefusses, then stop playing.If your baby cries, find outwhat he needs. He is letting youknow something with his cry.When you respond, he learns totrust you are there for him.You cannot spoil yourbaby at this age.Step back from yourbaby so he cannot see you.Gently call his name. Watchwhat he does. Does he stopmoving for a moment? Doeshe try to move his head towardyour voice? Pick him up.Say, “Here I am.”Talk to your baby aboutwhat she is doing, seeing,hearing, and feeling. Say,“I am changing yourdiaper. You will likebeing nice and dry.I love you!”Introduce new, safe*objects for your baby toexplore. Simple objects suchas plastic cups and big woodenspoons are all new to him.*Be sure to review safety guidelineswith your health care provider.Excerpted from ASQ:SE-2 User’s Guide by Jane Squires, Ph.D., Diane Bricker, Ph.D.,and Elizabeth Twombly, M.S. 2015 Brookes Publishing. All rights reserved.www.agesandstages.comd t

FUN & EASY SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL ACTIVITIESTry these activities with your 6-month-old—a great way to have funtogether and support your child’s social-emotional development.6AGE2 ActivitiesMONTHSLearn your baby’s specialrhythms, and try to settle intoa regular routine for eating,sleeping, and diapering.Talk to your babyabout his routines.Get down on the floorThis will help your babyfeel secure and content.When your baby cries,respond to her. Whisper inwith your baby and playwith him on his level. Lookat toys, books, or objectstogether. Have fun, laugh,and enjoy your time together.Let your baby begin tofeed herself bits of foodand use a spoon and a cup.her ear to quiet her. Hold herclose and make soft sounds.This will help her know thatyou are always there andthat you love her.Bring your baby to newplaces to see new things.Go on a walk to a parkor in the mall, or just bringhim shopping. He will loveto see new things whileyou keep him safe.She will begin to enjoydoing things herself.Visit a friend who hasa baby or young child.Stay close to your babyand let her know that thesenew people are okay.It takes a littletime to warm up.Use your baby’sname when you dress,feed, and diaper him.Say, “Here is Dusty’s finger.Here is Dusty’s foot.”Bath time* is a wonderfultime to have fun and beclose with your baby. Sponges,plastic cups, and washcloths makesimple, inexpensive tub toys.*Be sure to review safety guidelineswith your health care provider.Excerpted from ASQ:SE-2 User’s Guide by Jane Squires, Ph.D., Diane Bricker, Ph.D.,and Elizabeth Twombly, M.S. 2015 Brookes Publishing. All rights reserved.www.agesandstages.comd

FUN & EASY SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL ACTIVITIESTry these activities with your 1-year-old—a great way to have funtogether and support your child’s social-emotional development.Play on the floorwith your baby every day.Crawl around with her, or justget down and play onher level. She will reallyenjoy having youto herself.Play gentle tickle gameswith your baby, but makesure to stop when she lets youknow she has had enough.Watch her carefullyand you will know.Twirl your baby around.He will enjoy a littlerough-and-tumble play,but make sure you stopwhen he has had enough.1AGE2 ActivitiesDance to musicwith your baby.Hold his hands while he bendsup and down. Clap and praisehim when he “dances”by himself.Let your baby knowevery day how much you lovehim and how special he is—when he wakes up in the morningand when he goes tosleep at night.When you are dressingor diapering your baby, talkabout her body parts andshow her your body parts.Say, “Here is Daddy’s nose.Here is Destiny’s nose.”Go on a walk to a parkor a place wherechildren play. Let your babywatch them and visit alittle if he is ready.Sit on the floor with yourourbaby and roll a balllback and forth. Clap yourourbyhands when your babyhes”pushes the ball or “catches”s.the ball with his hands.Excerpted from ASQ:SE-2 User’s Guide by Jane Squires, Ph.D., Diane Bricker, Ph.D.,and Elizabeth Twombly, M.S. 2015 Brookes Publishing. All rights gesandstages.com

FUN & EASY SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL ACTIVITIESTry these activities with your 18-month-old—a great way to have funtogether and support your child’s social-emotional development.Your toddler likes tohave a regular daily routine.Talk to him about whatyou are doing now and whatwill be happening next.Give him time to be activeand time to be quiet.18AGE2 ActivitiesMONTHSHave a pretendparty withstuffed animals or dolls.You can cut out little“presents” from a magazine,make a pretend cake, andsing the birthday song.Your toddler needsa lot of time to movearound and exercise.Go for a walk, visit aplayground, or takea trip to a shopping mall.Dance with your toddler.Make a simple instrumentout of a large plastic food tub(for a drum) or a smallplastic container filled withbeans or rice (for a shaker).Your toddler will loveto help with daily tasks.Give her simple “jobs” to doand let her know what a biggirl she is. She can wipe offa table, put her toys away,or help sweep up.Set up playtimes withother children. Your childdoesn’t understand how toshare yet, so make sure thereare plenty of toys. Stay closeby and help him learn how toplay with other children.Help your childlearn about emotions.Make happy faces, sadfaces, mad faces, and sillyfaces in front of a mirror.This is fun!Storytimes, especiallybefore naptime and bedtime,are a great way to settle downbefore sleep. Let your childchoose books to read andhelp turn pages. Help himname what he sees.Excerpted from ASQ:SE-2 User’s Guide by Jane Squires, Ph.D., Diane Bricker, Ph.D.,and Elizabeth Twombly, M.S. 2015 Brookes Publishing. All rights reserved.www.agesandstages.comd t

FUN & EASY SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL ACTIVITIESTry these activities with your 2-year-old—a great way to have funtogether and support your child’s social-emotional development.Try to have set routinesduring the day, and letyour child know what willbe happening next.Say,“Remember, after webrush your hair, we get dressed.”Play Parade orFollow the Leaderwith your toddler.Your child will love tocopy you—and bethe leader!Give your toddler choices,but keep them simple.Let her choose a red or ablue shirt while dressing.Let her choose milkor juice at lunch.2AGE2 ActivitiesHave a specialreading timeevery day with your toddler.Snuggle up and get close.Before bedtime or naptimeis a great time toread together.Encourage your childto pretend play. Put a fewsmall chairs in a row to makea “bus.” Cut up some paper“money” to pay the driver.Ask, “Where will we go today?”Teach your child simplesongs and finger plays,such as“The Itsy-Bitsy Spider.”Your toddler is learningall about emotions.Help him label his feelingswhen he is mad, sad, happy, or silly.Say, “You are really happy”or “You sseem really mad.”Excerpted from ASQ:SE-2 User’s Guide by Jane Squires, Ph.D.,Ph.D Diane Bricker, Ph.D.,and Elizabeth Twombly, M.S. 2015 Brookes Publishing. All rights reserved.Get down on the floorand play with your child.Try to follow your child’s lead byplaying with toys he choosesand trying his ideas.www.agesandstages.com

FUN & EASY SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL ACTIVITIESTry these activities with your 30-month-old—a great way to have funtogether and support your child’s social-emotional development.30AGE2 ActivitiesMONTHSMake a “Me Book”with your child.Take some pieces of paperand glue in pictures of yourchild, family members, pets,or other special things. Tapeor staple the pages together.Give your child directionsthat have two steps.Say, “Put all of the LEGOs inthe box, and then put thebox in the closet.” Let himknow what a big help he is!Let your child do morethings for himself. He canput on his shoes and coatwhen you go out. Make sureyou give him plenty of time towork on these new skills.Say, “What a big boy!”Your child lovesto imitate you.*Be sure to review safety guidelineswith your health care provider.Try new words, animalsounds, and noises, and see ifyour child can imitate what yousay or how you sound.Play with your child andhelp her learn how to share.Show her how to share andpraise her when he shareswiwith you. This is a newthing forf her, so do not expecttotoo much at this age.EExcerptedt d ffrom ASQ:SE-2 ASQ SE 2 UUser’s’ GuideG id bby JJane SSquires,iPhPh.D.,D Diane Bricker, Ph.D.,and Elizabeth Twombly, M.S. 2015 Brookes Publishing. All rights reserved.Let your child help whenyou are cooking and cleaning.*She can do things such ashelping to stir, putting flour ina cup, or putting away spoonsand forks in the drawer.Encouragecreative play, such asdrawing with crayons,painting, and playingwith playdough. Playingwith chalk on thesidewalk is fun.Invite a friend with achild over for a playdate.Keep it short, such as 1 or 2hours. Have some playtime withenough toys for two, snacktime, and some outdoor play.Say, “That was fun!See you next time.”www.agesandstages.com

FUN & EASY SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL ACTIVITIESTry these activities with your 3-year-old—a great way to have funtogether and support your child’s social-emotional development.Tell your child asimple story about somethingshe did that was funnyor interesting.See if your child can tella different storyabout herself.Draw simple pictures offaces that show happy, sad,excited, or silly expressions.Cut them out and glue themon a Popsicle stick or pencil.Let your child act out thedifferent feelings withthe puppets.Give your child directionsthat have at least two stepswhen you and he are cooking,dressing, or cleaning.Say, “Put that pan in the sink,and then pick up the red spoon.”Tell your child a favorite story,such as the Three Little Pigsor Goldilocksand the Three Bears.See if your child can tell youhow the animals felt in the story.At dinner time, let familymembers talk about their day.Help your child tell abouther day. Say, “Latoya and Iwent to the park today.Latoya, tell your sisterwhat you did at the park.”Tell silly jokeswith your child.Simple “What am I?”riddles are also fun.Have a good time and laughwith your child.Play games that involvefollowing simple rules,such as Mother May Iand Red Light, Green Light.3AGE2 ActivitiesCreate a pretend argumentbetween stuffed animals or dolls.Talk with your child about whathappened, feelings, and howbest to work out problemswhen they come up.Excerpted from ASQ:SE-2 User’s Guide by Jane Squires, Ph.D., Diane Bricker, Ph.D.,and Elizabeth Twombly, M.S. 2015 Brookes Publishing. All rights reserved.www.agesandstages.comww agesandstages com